Lots of Love for Lucy

Grief is upon us once again!  My parents had to put down Lucy yesterday.  She hadn't eaten for days, and the vet said she was suffering as her body began to shut down.  Lucy would have been 16 years old in May.  When I turned 16 years old Lucy was my birthday present.  She is the one that started my family's love for Jack Russell Terriers.  She was the first dog my parents let us keep in the house.  I still remember the after-lunch road trip my mother and I took to a distant town to pick out a puppy after my father told us not to get a puppy!  I picked Lucy because she was the most adventurous one in the litter. 

Lucy was smart.  I taught her to sit-stay-come within a few minutes.  I had to give away my pet ferret to my friend Stephanie because at 8-weeks-old Lucy's only goal in life was to hunt Rascal.  From the beginning, Lucy insisted on sleeping in bed with me; including the night she started giving birth to her puppies in my bed!  Once Lucy found a mouse inside my grandparents' cabin, and she killed it immediately.  I was so shocked at the ferociousness my loveable Lucy displayed.

It was impossible (maybe even cruel) to keep Lucy as an apartment dog; I went to college and she stayed with my parents.  I missed Lucy so much at college, and after reading online that French bulldogs were great apartment dogs I adopted Martha Fauker.

The sting of Martha's death in 2010 lasted for so long that I slowly began to emotionally disconnect from Lucy these past few months.  I was trying to prepare myself.  (Are we ever prepared for death?) We spent two weeks at my parents' house in December, and I knew Lucy's days were numbered.  She was an old girl.  Her fantastic life was winding down.

What I love to think about most is all the wonderful things Lucy added to my life for almost 16 years.  She had a bit of elegance to her.  She could be aloof at times towards other dogs and people, but she was a wonderful dog.  I love Lucy.